Nurses Service Organization
Incident reports: A Safety Tool
By Cynthia Saver, MS, RN, President of CLS Development, Inc., in Columbia, Md.
“Nurses tend to cringe when they think about completing an incident report. Reasons for this reaction include the distress that occurs when something untoward has happened, anticipated loss of precious time to complete the report (particularly if the organization’s reporting system is cumbersome), and fear of being blamed for the incident or becoming embroiled in a court case. In this situation, it’s easy to forget that incident reports are a valuable resource for keeping patients safe. They also can keep employees safe by identifying system-wide problems such as insufficient staffing or equipment to move patients, which often contributes to staff injuries.
So that patients and employees can benefit from an incident report, nurses need to understand their use. They also need to know how to complete and file a report correctly to protect themselves and their organization from the report being used as part of legal action in a lawsuit brought by a patient.
A safety tool
Incident reports provide a record of an unexpected occurrence, such as a fall or administration of a wrong medication dose, that involved a patient, a family member, or an employee. These reports can be used to identify areas of safety improvement and to educate others about how to avoid similar events in the future.